Shloka 88
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
विरूप उवाच धारयामि नरव्याप्र विकृतस्येह गो: फलम् । ददतश्न न गृह्नाति विकृतो मे महीपते,विरूप बोला--पुरुषसिंह! मैं विकृतके एक गोदानका फल ऋणके तौरपर अपने यहाँ रखता हूँ। पृथ्वीनाथ! उस ऋणको आज मैं दे रहा हूँ; परंतु यह विकृत ले नहीं रहा है
virūpa uvāca | dhārayāmi naravyāghra vikṛtasyeha goḥ phalam | dadataś ca na gṛhṇāti vikṛto me mahīpate ||
Virūpa thưa: “Ôi bậc hổ tướng giữa loài người! Thần đã giữ tại đây, như một món nợ, quả phúc (công đức) của việc hiến tặng một con bò thuộc về Vikṛta. Ôi chúa tể cõi đất! Hôm nay thần đang hoàn trả món nợ ấy, nhưng Vikṛta không chịu nhận từ thần.”
विरूप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma around obligation and moral accounting: one should repay what one holds as another’s due (even intangible ‘phala’/merit), and acceptance/refusal itself can carry ethical significance in disputes about rightful ownership of merit.
Virūpa tells the king that he has been holding the ‘fruit’ (merit) of Vikṛta’s cow-gift as a kind of debt. Now he is offering to return it, but Vikṛta refuses to accept the repayment, indicating a moral or legal complication being brought before royal judgment.